by J. L. Drake
Finally, when the sun had set and I had a decent buzz on, Mike joined the group around the trash can fire.
I hated that we had so much to talk about, but he didn’t seem like he wanted to.
“You good to head back tomorrow?” Trigger handed Mike a beer.
“Not sure yet.” He sighed like there was more to the story then he was letting on. “Lopez was followed right into John Wayne Airport. He’s lost them now, but he needs to get to Long Beach to catch his ride back to…” He trailed off. “Just gotta hang tight until we get the green light.”
“Gus would’ve wanted you to stay. The trailer is yours unless you want the club.”
“No,” he cut him off, “no way am I leading any shit to your home.”
“We love shit,” Rail piped in.
“Yeah, well, this is not your shit to clean up.”
I felt my back rise slightly. I couldn’t help but take that comment personally.
“Whose fault is that?” I challenged, and Mike glared at me. Mike had moments when I could tell he could hurt someone, but he’d never used that look on me.
“Denton Barlow, to start.”
I couldn’t help my reaction, and they all caught it. “How do you know Denton, Mike?”
A blanket of silence draped over everyone. Mike leaned forward and tilted his head like he could see inside my mind. “No, how do you know Denton?”
“Family friend.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Mike
The pop of the fire was all that could be heard as her words sank into my gut. Shit, her involvement just kept layering on. Sure, her father worked with Denton, but a family friend was a different level of madness.
“Catalina.” I stood, but when she didn’t move, I tried again. “Please, Catalina, it’s time to talk.” She unfolded her legs, and I took her hand and led her down to the little cabin by the water. Once we were far enough away from the guys, I let her go and wondered where the hell to start.
“You hid a huge secret from me!”
Her shoulders tensed. “So do you, all the time.”
“You know I can’t talk about my work. I’m sorry, but it has to be that way. But, Catalina, you could be killed. Your father has a lot of power.”
Her arms dropped to her sides, and her eyes momentarily looked to the ground. “You don’t have to worry, I have protection. A deal was made for my freedom. No one will touch me.”
“The kind of protection that leaves you on the side of the road?”
Her head snapped up at that.
“Feel free to answer some questions now, Mike.” I hated that her tone twisted into dark sarcasm. The direction of our conversation was taking the wrong turn.
“So, now what, Catalina?”
She half laughed. “I warned you we came from very different worlds. Worlds that when they collide, someone gets hurt, and look where we are. So…” She shrugged like her mind was made up.
“So?” I spread my feet and stood like I would if I were about to use force with someone. I was ready for a fight, a fight to figure out how we could make this work.
“Mike, why am I here?”
“Because when I saw you in that house, I’ve never…” I felt the words stick in my throat.
“Never?”
“Never been more scared in my entire life! The woman I loved was in the one place I had just mentally prepared to die in if I had to. I’d said goodbye to my family in case I never came back. So, when I got there and walked into the home of a major cartel lord and I saw you, a part of me panicked. I never panic!”
“Imagine how I felt,” she nearly shouted. “I’d just been told my brother was killed. I had to return to the one place I hated beyond anything in this world, to attend his funeral and to figure out who killed him. Then I walk into a room to find you dressed like a GQ model. I had no idea what on Earth you were doing. No clue, Mike! If my father got a whiff that I had feelings for someone who did what I think you do, he would have taken you out on the spot. That’s panic!”
Her neck flushed as we both took a moment to breathe.
“God,” she covered her face with a sigh, “I feel like I’m back at the strip club.”
“What?” When the hell was she at a strip club?
“Mike. Do you trust me at all anymore? Can you get past where I came from, who I was?”
Yes.
“It’s complicated, Catalina.” I wanted to explain it wasn’t only me who needed to trust her. The people I worked for did too.
“Okay,” she whispered.
I grabbed her waist as she went to walk by me and held her in place so she couldn’t leave. There was no way I would let her walk out of my life, not after risking what I did to bring her home.
“You have my word, Catalina.” I brushed the back of my hand over her cheek. “I will figure this out.”
“That’s the sad part.” She turned into my touch. “It should only matter what you think.”
“No, not when part of my job is fighting people like your family, it’s not.”
Her eyes softened, and she gave me a little nod of understanding, but we both knew it would take more than a few days to fix a mess like we were in. My mind went to Frank, and I knew I would have a shit show on my hands when he heard about Catalina and her involvement in this situation.
“Do you still love me?” Tears rimmed her eyes, and my heart broke. Why couldn’t she see it? “Because if you don’t, please just let me go. I don’t think I can take any more.”
“Come here.” I swooped down and captured her mouth with mine, and she immediately sagged into me. We had both been waiting this entire time for each other’s touch. I palmed her breast and pressed her up against the wall of the cabin. She fiddled with the fly on my jeans and freed me from the fabric. My heavy erection dove into her hands and begged to be handled. She greedily obliged.
Using one hand, I pushed her shorts down. I used the other to hook her body to mine so I could whirl her around and sit her on the railing. Her legs wrapped around my waist, and her lips were back on me, on my neck, collarbone, and ear. I growled when she nipped at my skin. Everything inside burst, and all I cared about was spending the rest of my life with this woman.
Her plump breasts were the perfect place for my tongue to swirl and explore. She moaned and threw her head back, so her hair spilled all around her. The smell of jasmine had my brain firing off in many different directions. I couldn’t hold back anymore and lined up my tip with her slick opening. Without waiting, I dove in, and she bowed backward. Only my arms stopped her from falling into the water.
“Jesus, Mike!” She moaned and pressed her head into my neck.
“Sorry.” I took her chin in my hand so she’d look at me. “I can’t control myself when you’re like this. Knowing how warm and tight you are,” I kissed her lips, “knowing I may not have gotten you back if fate hadn’t dropped you right in front of me. I need to be inside you, make sure you’re still mine.”
She wiggled her hips then stopped as she digested my words.
“We have a lot of figuring out to do before you should say that.”
“You could be Denton’s ex-wife, and I’d still want you.”
She let out a long breath. It looked as though she wanted to say something, but I couldn’t risk losing her to a bad thought, so I dragged my erection across her sensitive spot and watched as she tuned in to it and me.
Every muscle in my body flexed when I plunged inside and got lost in her. No one said love was easy, and someone was out to test us, but we could still connect physically, and I’d hang on to that for as long as possible.
When we were both exhausted and thoroughly satisfied, we went up the back way, and I slipped Catalina into bed in the trailer before I went to say goodnight to the rest of the guys.
“You look satisfied.” Rail lit a cigarette and smirked. “Nothing like make-up sex to soothe the soul.”
“How would you know?” Brick kicked the beer out of his h
and.
“He reads, remember?” Tess laughed. “Literary sex is hot.”
“Two words. Olivia and Caleb.”
“You finished?” Tess leaned forward in her chair.
“You called it ‘deliciously dark,’” Rail laughed. “Nothing like a little underground sex to help the tube sock slip on faster.”
“Wow.” Brick shook his head but eyed Minnie when she came up with another case of beer. Something about the two of them seemed off, and, by the looks of it, she was the one with the problem.
“I’m going to bed. Thanks again, guys. I really appreciated everything.” I waved off the guys and made my way to the trailer. I hated to sleep in someone else’s bed. Normally, I’d opt for the woods, but I wanted to hold Catalina, so bed it was. I wrapped my arms around her, pulled her close, and nuzzled my head into her warm neck before sleep took over.
***
The sun showed it was well past morning when a bang on the door had me unfolding from Catalina and trudging to the door.
“Yeah?” I squinted at Trigger, who held up two coffees and a bottle of whiskey.
“We should talk.”
I pulled on a t-shirt and set a coffee next to Catalina. She was still out cold. She lay on her stomach, and the angel on her naked back beckoned me, but I wouldn’t make my friend wait.
Trigger was halfway through a joint when I sat down and sipped the hot brew. “Sleep okay?”
I shrugged. “Felt like Gus was creepin’ some of the time.”
Trigger smirked, amused with my ability to bring up Gus in a way for him to handle it. “He did love good porn.”
“I hope I did him well.”
We both chuckled.
“I got to know your girl a little while she was with us,” he started as he spun off the cap and took a swing of whiskey. “She’s got a fire inside.”
“That she does.” I smiled, glad he’d taken the time.
“She’s paranoid that people will always see her as the enemy.” He eyed me. “Do you?”
“Of course not. No,” I rubbed my head, “but it makes things complicated.”
“What does Logan have to say about it?”
I leaned my tired arms on the table and hunched forward. “He’s good, but he’s not the one I’m worried about.”
“Frank?”
“Yeah.”
“Look,” he moved beside me and leaned to look out at the dusty property, “last night she gave me a name and some information on a guy who is moving into my territory.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “I asked around, and it turned out she was right. She saved my club from being blindsided,” he paused, “again.”
“I don’t want to use my girlfriend as a source.”
“I’m not askin’ that, but she did right by me, showed trust and loyalty, and in return, she seemed to ease up and relax. Maybe if you give her a chance to make it right, things will slowly fall into place.”
Maybe.
“I don’t know.” I hated that I was so confused inside. My phone rang, and I pulled it from my pocket.
Mark: Elena is settled in at Dusk. Frank wants a house meeting tomorrow. Wants to meet Catalina but in Washington first.
Here we go.
“Time to go.” I pushed from the table and stood next to Trigger. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me.”
He lit a joint and smoked a bit before he replied, “My debt to you is far from over.”
“I disagree.”
He peered up at me and squinted. “Everglades.”
I closed my eyes and grunted in agreement. That wasn’t a good time for either of us.
“Like I said, brother, far from paid. If you get into trouble, call me.”
I nodded and took the hand he offered me. Trigger didn’t do contact, so I knew he tried to drive his point home.
After he left, I woke Catalina, and we hit the road.
We dropped the truck off then made quick work to the Long Beach airport. Once the plane was in the air, I pulled my bag off the chair in front of me and handed Catalina a stack of paperwork.
“What’s this?” She thumbed the papers.
“Frank wants to meet you.”
“Okay.” She waited for me to go on. “Who is Frank?”
“Catalina, I work for a group called Blackstone. Frank oversees us from Washington, and he wants to meet you, which means you need to sign a few non-disclosure papers.”
“Given what’s happened and who I’m about to meet, can you share a little more?”
She was deep enough now. I guessed it wouldn’t hurt.
“We’re a special ops team that handles kidnappings of high-profile people and their families. Mainly when it involves the Mexican cartel. We’re like shadows. We slip in unseen and slip out with our rescue. It’s very dangerous, hence us not sharing anything with anyone.”
She studied my face. “You shared it with your father.” She wasn’t asking, but I knew she knew.
I nodded. “I had to tell someone. If anything happened to me, I couldn’t put my parents through the lies that would be my cover story. They deserve better than that.”
“Okay.” She sucked in a deep breath and seemed to be happy with what I offered her. Catalina was good with heavy, intense things, and I admired that about her.
“Am I going to see where you live?”
“No,” I sighed, “but this is protocol, so are you okay to look through this with me?”
I spent the next hour going over everything with her, and by the end of it, she looked more confused than she did when we started.
“I know it’s a lot, but it’s protection.”
“From me, right?” I could hear the hurt in her voice. “The sad part about all of this is that I spent my whole life trying to be different than them. I fought against evil and welcomed the light. I educated myself, have my own place, and love my job. Then my brother gets killed, and his death tipped the scale, and everything I worked so hard for just slid off. Now I’m the one you look at with uncertainty. How am I supposed to fix that?”
I covered her hand with mine. “Time.”
“Or something else,” she whispered and picked up her book.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Catalina
The red light above the door had been on for the past hour and a half. I was growing more than a little annoyed. It was a long damn journey to make it here, and I had been given a banana to hold me over until after the meeting.
A banana, seriously? Where was Mark when I needed him?
I pushed off the chair and peeked my head outside the door to see if the coast was clear. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I ventured out into the hallway. At least the air was cooler. I was happy I had chosen the appropriate outfit for this trip, particularly as the airplane bathroom had me bent like a pretzel when in dire need. It was a good trick to store in the old pleasure box inside my head. I mentally smacked myself because I hoped I would never have to travel any great distance in that thing.
My flats helped conceal my presence as I whisked past two open offices and down another hallway where I could smell food. My stomach growled, and I tossed all care to the wind. I stopped at the door and peeked in. Food. Sweet, heavenly food lined one wall, and a chef was rolling something white onto a dish.
Screw it.
Then I spotted him in the corner, and my anger flashed as I hurried to stand next to the table.
“Wow.” I folded my arms and glanced at his heaping plate of food. “You saw them hand me that banana,” I hissed, “then to sit me in that 1970, Jeffrey Dahmer-looking room to watch my life dwindle without so much as a cup of coffee!” I glared and felt hanger take over as he tried to hold back his boyish grin. “Listen to me, Mark Lopez, you of all people know a Latino appetite is not something to mess with.”
He laughed his infectious laugh and shot me one of his “I will win you over because I’m cute” smiles.
“Nice to meet
a girl who likes to eat.” He pulled a chunk of meat off a rib bone and sucked it from his fingers.
“Don’t try charming me.” I stuck a finger in his face, and he laughed harder. “Give me a chicken wing, or I will get scrappy.”
“Ohhhh,” his eyebrows shot up with entertainment, “I don’t know, I kind of wanna witness that.”
I snatched the chicken wing off his plate and sat at the table next to him. I pulled the tiny sliver of chicken free and swallowed it before my tongue could appreciate the taste.
“Major Lopez.” A soldier in camo appeared from nowhere and stood at attention at his side. “You asked for me to pull out whatever I found.” He handed him a file. “Blue is the USA side, and red is Mexican.”
“Great.” Mark flipped it open on his lap and nodded. I glanced at it and saw where they were homing in on. “Dismissed.”
The officer gave me a polite nod then left, taking the corners sharply. I had to smile at that.
Mark tipped his tray in the trash and brushed his hands free of crumbs before he handed me a card. “If I had known you were starving, I would have found you, then ate in front of you.”
“Jackass.” I laughed but gladly took the meal card.
“They should be done any minute now. I’ll let Mike know you’re here.”
“You’re way off, you know?” I spoke lightly as he walked toward the door.
“Huh?”
“Your map,” I pointed to the file tucked under his arm, “it’s inaccurate.” I moved to the fridge, and he followed. “My father would never allow his men through that part of the desert. That’s forbidden territory.” I had no illusions about what I was doing. I shrugged and let my mouth run. “What your soldier pulled is exactly what they want you to see. They purposely show that route being used, and they allow visuals there. Those are not actually their men. They’re castaways.”
“Castaways?” Mark questioned.
“They are men who have done the family wrong, but instead of killing them, they use them to throw off the scent of the real route.” I snagged an apple and bit into the crisp flavor. I wanted to moan, but my stomach demanded I swallow and share in the happiness.
